Drive-through gate



Allg- 26, 1952 s. E. ANDERSON 2,608,010

DRIVE-THROUGH GATE Filed Nov. 29, 1948 ATTORN EY Patented Aug. 26, 1 952 UNITED STATES PATENT l Y j i 24.508,010V l Y 'A g d Dmvn;'.lznrzoucuGATE.

Seymour Elrner- Anderson, deceased, late of` Billings, Mont., by Thelma Irene. Anderson, .admin-fistratrixg Billings, Mont. .Application November'29, 1948, Serial No. 62,568H

` 1' 5 Claims. 1 Thisinvention relates more"particularlyl has reference toV gates of' the horizontally` hinged down-tilting type that are automatically opened by driving'a vehicle'against the same and closed by'a force urging the gate to the closed. position.

(,ratesofl this type' have been developed overV the" years but have not been entirely-satisfactory primarily because" ofthe complicated' structuresy employed'and because of' the' undesirable characteristicsiof theV automatici closing mechanism. In regard tothe 'closing mechanism,` it has been found that those actuated by'springs and counterweightshave the disadvantage'of exerting thev greatest closing force on'thegate when'the gatey is in its open position and the lowest `closing force when thegate is in itsl closed position. This type of closingl mechanism enables the" gate to be rather easily opened by'animals and yet an automatically closed drive-through gate equippedwith a closing mechanism which exerts a. varyngjclcsing force ony the gate which increasesa's' the gate moves from openA to closed position anddecreases asthel gate'moves fromk closed Vto open position.

A further object. of vthis invention-is toprovide anl automatically closedv driveethrough gate of" simple construction that extends across ay drivewaygis hinged, an the sodomia swingabout a. horizontal* axis and which is equipped with a closing mechanism which exerts a varying closing force on' the gate which increases as the Vgatemoves from open to. closed' position and decreases as the, gatev moves from; closed'to. open position.

vWith these. and other objects in viewas"wil1.v

appear more full'y hereinafter, the present invention resides in the parts and the combinations shown in the drawings and described' in the, followingy specification andy set forth lin thel ap mounting and', closing, mechanism with.. some partsV in section.

Fig. 2- is an enlarged end veufrfof'thefstructur'el' shown in Fig. 1. v Y

As illustrated by way ofexample'- in-the=draw cross'section and when so formed maybe mount;- ed for pivotal movement'about its axis-inbear ings 2 carried by footingsl orother supports embedded in the ground or the support mayb l;

part of the driveway'. y Of course, other t-ypes ofLv pivoting or'liiriging" devices may be provided for mountingthebar l or` bottom of thef gate for pivotalmovementr'f about a horizontal axis. Obviously, 'thefbar vff"- may be of other than circular crossv section:

Extending radiallyfromL one side-of the bar or base I are aplurality of pickets E, allofwhich-y are in alignment. Intermediate theI ends ofi vbar' l, as shown in the drawings', therel extend a'pluU rality of vehicle wheel treads 5 which serve-as tracks over which thevehicle wheelspass-when the gate is in its lowered open position'. f Thesetread members may be-'formed'of'plates or may# comprise frames covered with sheetv metal` or other suitable material such as is generallyfemployed for covering surfaces overr whirl-ifJ vehicles pass.

Obviously, the entirev gate body may be. of-a construction similarto that of the `tread mem-v bers so that a vehicle may run over any portion'- thereof. Y v

The gate is urged to a closed upright positionby a closing mechanism which as illustrated comprises a support or standard 6 whichl is securely anchored in a concrete or other suitable footing 1. At its upper portion,.standard E" careriesl a clevis 8 having a pin 9 supported thereby. Pin 9 serves asa fulcrum for a lever I0 which,A as illustrated, is a bell crank lever.v Ononearm-- ofthe lever IU is adjustablyA slidably-mountedl a: Weightv Il which is secured in adjusted.` posi'-` tions by a set screw- I2. This structures enables the weight to be shifted toward and away from thefulcrum 9 to vary the moment effect of the@`v weight;

Lever l0 is pivotally connected at the `free endofY itsother arm'tooneend of" av link |34. The other' end' of link` I3'Y is' connected to a pinf M* carried on' one ofthe pickets 4 orto a'vspecia'l crank arm or'actuating lever'l'5'1ixed tothe-'hanf'.

' As indicated iny Fig. Z'by full'l and dotted lines;

shmvvirrgv the open andvlosed positions. ofthe' f gfate` respectively; thearmsoflever HlV are lofc" 3 such length and so angularly disposed in conjunction with the length of link I3 and its point of attachment to the arm l5 of the gate, that weight Il will be in a position approaching the vertical above pivot pin 9 when the gate is open.

In this position, the moment of the weight II about the pin 9 will be very small due to the small eective moment armor horizontal distance between pin Sand weight ll. The momentv ofthe weight when the gate is open will however be great enough to cause the gate to move toward j closed position. As the gate moves toward closed position, the arm carrying the weight will movev about its pivot and the weight will move downwardly and horizontallyA away from pivot pin 9 to increase the effective moment arm and the moment of weight H and its arm.. When the gate is closed, the horizontal distance Vbetween the pin 9 and weight il will be at its maximum 1 which means that the moment of weight l I and its effective arm will be at its greatest.A` This .will cause weight l I to exert its greatestfclosing-y effect when the gate is closed. Such a construction and system will serve to better prevent animals opening the gate when closed and will facilitate Y the -passage of vehicles through and over the Actually, the tendency of the gate.

open gate. to. close when open may be adjusted to be so small Vthat upon driving a vehicle :against the gate and fully opening the'same, the gate will remain in open position for a short time as` though the closing mechanism were equipped with a time delay device. Thisis desirable because the gate will not move up and strike the underside-of the chassisbetween the liront and rearwheels of a vehicle moving over the gate.

While the standards S at eachend of the gate have been shown mounted on the same side of the horizontal pivoting axis of the gate, it is within the concept of the present invention to mount these standards on opposite sides of.

tending across a driveway, means in thev driveway for pivotally mounting the gate at its bottomvforY pivotal movement through an anglcof about 180 from one horizontal position to lanother horizontal position about a horizontal axis extending transversely of the driveway, a bell crank lever, a vertical support disposed laterally from said gate pivotingaxis for mounting said bell vvcrank ,lever for rocking movementthrough an angle of less than 9Go about an axis parallel to the gate pivoting axis,a weight on one end of the bell crank lever and means connecting the other end of the bell cranklever to the gate so that the arm of the bell crank lever carrying the weight is in a position slightly above horizontal position when the gate is closed and is in a position nearly vertical when the gate is open, whereby the closing eifect of the weight will be greatest when the gate is closed.

2. An automatic self-closing drive-through gate comprising a bar extending across a driveway,

means for mounting said barvfor pivotal move-V drive-through gate ofV thev character described comprising a gate body ex- 4 on the driveway on one side of said axis through a vertical closed position to an open position on the driveway on the other side of the axis upon rocking said bar about its axis of pivoting, an actuating lever fixed to said bar, a bell crank lever having two arms, a vertical support dis-` posed laterally from said gate pivoting axis for mounting said bell crank lever about an axis parallel to the gate pivoting axis Y with one arm disposed directly above said gate axis, a weight on the other arm of the bell crank lever and means connecting the arm of the bell crank lever disposed directly above the gate axis to the gate actuating lever so that the arm of the bell crank levercarrying the weight is in a position slightly above horizontal position and the connecting means is vertical lwhen the gate is closed and the bell crank lever carrying the weight is in a position nearly vertical when the gate is open in either direction, whereby the closing effect of the weightwill be greatest when the gate is-closed.

3.,An automatic .self-closing drive-through gate comprisinga bar extending acrossa drivey way, ymeans for mounting said bar for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis extending across said driveway, a plurality of picketsfexg tendingradially from one side'vof the bar, ljlehicle wheel tread means .carriedfby said baru and extending radially therefrom in alignment with.

said pickets, saidvtread means and pickets .being movable in either direction about said axis'fr'om a vertical closed positionto an open pos'ition'upo'n the driveway by driving a vehicle against v the same, and movablefrom anopen toa closed'po-- sition by lrocking the same about the axis of said'-` bar, a lever having. two arms' mounted for'piv-` oting about a horizontal axis disposed laterally from and parallel to l-the` gate axiswith one arr'n disposed directlyV above the gate'axis, a' weight'.

carried by one arm of ysaid lever, and means con-FV nectingy the arm of said lever disposed above. the f gate axis to said gate to transmit the effectof the weight on said lever to said gate to 'urgeclosl ing thereof, with the weight in a position approaching the vertical above thelaxis of said lever when the gate is open and with the weight inra position approaching the vertical level ofthe lever pivot but spaced a greater; horizontaly distance Y therefrom when the gate'isclosed, Y i

an angle of about 180 about av horizontalaxiaj a lever having two arms mounted forpivoting posed directly above the gate axis, a weight calfried by said lever, and means connecting the arm of said lever disposed above the gate axis to'said gate to transmit the eilect' of the weight on said lever to said gate to urge closing thereof, with the weight in a position approaching thevertical above the axis of said lever when the gate sopen. and with vthe weight in a position approaching:

the vertical .level ofthe lever pivot butspaced 4a greater horizontal'distance therefrom whenthe gate is colsed. l

5. An automatic L Aself-closing drive-through gate of the character described comprising agate extending across a driveway, vrneansj in the drive- Way for pivotally mountingthe gate at its bottom for pivotal movement through an angle `of about about a horizontal axis extending trans" versely of the driveway, a bell crank 'lever having from said gate pivoting axis for pvotally mounting said bell crank lever about an axis parallel to the gate pivoting axis with one arm disposed directly above the gate axis, a weight mounted on the other arm of said bell crank lever, means 5 connecting the arm of the bell crank lever above the gate axis to the gate so that the arm of the bell crank lever is in a nearly vertical position when the gate is open and is in a position slightly above the horizontal when the gate 'is closed, whereby the closing effect of the weight will be the greatest when the gate is closed, and means for adjusting the position of the Weight on the lever arm.

THELMA IRENE ANDERSON, Administratri of the Estate of Seymow- Elmer` Anderson, Deceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 758,663 Johnson May 3, 1904 1,499,120 Nies June 24, 1924 FOREIGNv PATENTS Number Country Date 411,992 France June 30, 1910 

